4 things we learned from Texans 31-21 win over Arizona

4 things we learned from Texans 31-21 win over Arizona

The Houston Texans did Andre Johnson proud on Sunday. Houston pulled off a 31-21 win over the visiting Arizona Cardinals on the afternoon where Texans legend Andre Johnson was inducted into the team’s ring of honor.

Here are four things we learned from the impressive victory.

Tom Savage has his moments

His overall body of work remains a bitter disappointment, but in this game, it was a lot easier to see the positive traits and legit skills which convinced Bill O’Brien that Savage could be his starting quarterback ahead of Deshaun Watson last summer.

Savage had his best game, completing 22 of 32 pass attempts. He tossed two TDs against one INT. The touchdown throw to Lamar Miller along the side of the end zone in tight coverage might be the best throw Savage has in his Texans career. He threw a few other beautiful dimes as well, showing arm strength and precise placement.

Biggest offseason need is offensive guard

As bad as Chris Clark and Breno Giacomini have been at the tackle spots, and Giacomini in particular was once again awful against the Cardinals, the guards are even worse.

Xavier Su’a-Filo might have played his worst game of the season, and that’s saying something for Pro Football Focus’ 77th-ranked (out of 78) guards on the season. There were plays in pass protection where he might have been more effective simply falling down; he would have taken the defender more time to get over him than around the left guard.

Jeff Allen has been better, relatively speaking. He’s capable in the run game and executes well when helping Giacomini on the outside. But Allen remains unreliable and prone to odd whiffs too, including two in this game.

Run defense looked great

The Cardinals are terrible at running the ball, that needs to be said upfront. However, the Texans did a fine job making sure they weren’t the team to let Arizona get untracked against.

Jadeveon Clowney’s masterful fourth-down stuff of Adrian Peterson was the highlight, but Benardrick McKinney was a monster anytime the Cards tried to run between the tackles. The safeties were disciplined and effective when they crashed into help, too.

The punt team was on fire

Houston punted six times. The Cardinals managed just seven return yards on those six punts, which included three fair catches.

This was one of the best efforts from the coverage units all year. They were effective at staying in their lanes and getting off blocks. When the Cardinals were flagged for an illegal block, it turned the return yards into a net negative. Punter Shane Lechler was outstanding with his directional control as he continues his stellar campaign at age 41.

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